Scott Rothstein gets 50 years

apologizes to judge and packed courtroom gallery

Scott Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison Wednesday morning for running the largest Ponzi scheme in Florida history from his downtown Fort Lauderdale law offices.

The sentence was 10 years more than prosecutors were seeking, and 20 more than the defense requested.

In the courtroom, Rothstein appeared dramatically changed by his six months in federal custody, much thinner with closely shorn gray hair and a goatee — almost unrecognizable from the outsize personality he once was.

He was wearing dark pants and an off-white dress shirt, and he was shackled at the waist and ankles. A humble Rothstein addressed the judge and the packed gallery, apologizing for all the harm he caused. Rothstein's parents, Harvey and Gay, and his wife, Kim, were present for the sentencing.

"I am truly and deeply sorry for what I have done. I don't expect your forgiveness. I don't," Rothstein said. "I am ashamed and embarrassed."

As the sentence by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn was handed down, Gay Rothstein let out a gasp, put a hand over her face and leaned against a courtroom wall. Kim Rothstein began dabbing her eyes. After the sentencing, Rothstein's parents and wife gathered in a foyer outside the courtroom. They were tearful and visibly distraught.

Cohn said Rothstein's crimes were not the result of mistakes that spiraled out of control, as Rothstein claimed in a letter last week to the judge.

"This Ponzi scheme was not the result of a poor business decision. Quite the contrary, it was fraud at its inception," Cohn said.

Cohn noted that in his former life, "Mr. Rothstein was seemingly omnipotent. He was everywhere. He was not only everywhere, but everywhere with excesses," and the judge condemned Rothstein for forging federal court orders to carry out one aspect of his fraud. "These actions constituted the most egregious wrong a licensed attorney can commit. There can be no conduct more reviled."

One of the federal prosecutors, Lawrence LaVecchio, told the judge that Rothstein's crimes vaulted him into a dubious distinction, an elite group of Ponzi schemers. With the sentence pronounced, Rothstein was led out of the courtroom by marshals. He did not look back to his family in the gallery.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said in a statement that he hopes the sentence brings "some sense of justice to the victims of this massive fraud."

"This rags-to-riches-to-jail saga is a humbling reminder of what can happen when greed and ambition run amok," Ferrer said. "Rothstein manipulated and abused the trust of all whom he knew — his friends, family, business partners, legal colleagues, political figures and even charitable organizations — to enhance his reputation, standing and power in the community. All that he accomplished crashed and burned when his elaborate Ponzi scheme fell apart."

John V. Gillies, the head of the FBI's Miami office, said the far-reaching criminal investigation into Rothstein's massive investment fraud scheme continues.

"For those that are entrusted with other people's money: Do the right thing," he said. "For those that entrust people with their money: Don't be fooled by the promise of unrealistic returns. The common element for both is greed — don't let it get the best of you."

There were about a dozen television news crews outside the courthouse, and it was standing room only inside the courtroom. Security around the courthouse was tight. Kim Rothstein, swarmed by a phalanx of cameramen and reporters, left the courthouse without making a statement. She hopped into a Mini Cooper and was whisked away. Rothstein's parents also left without comment; as if on cue, a black Honda Accord quickly appeared to pick them up.

Rothstein's defense attorney, Marc Nurik, had admitted in court documents that the $1.4 billion fraud — driven by Rothstein's insatiable greed, narcissism and lust for power — had such a devastating impact on so many people that he couldn't begin to argue for leniency.

Instead, Nurik simply asked for 30 years behind bars — what he described as a sufficient punishment that would also give Rothstein, who turns 48 on Thursday, a glimmer of hope of some day leaving prison as an old man, rather than in the proverbial pine box.

Federal prosecutors, while acknowledging that Rothstein has been extremely cooperative in outlining his crimes, identifying his co-conspirators and surrendering tens of millions of dollars in assets, countered that 30 years was not enough. They asserted in court filings that a sentence in the 40-year range would be more appropriate for a fraud that produced $429 million in losses, and would serve as a very public deterrent.